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Upgrade and Maintenance Stuff for Vstrom and Super Duke

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OldTLSDoug

OldTLSDoug

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I took a good ride on the Super Duke 990 yesterday and really enjoyed it even in the heat. It seems I am having issues with disengaging the clutch. It could be the cheap Chinese knock off lever or the slave failing. So, I shotgunned it. I ordered an Oberon slave and backing plate and a new factory lever. I am still very happy about the bike and marvel at the seat comfort of the stock seat. All in all a great scooter.

Second thing I did was lower the Vstrom. I used 148 mm links (lower 7/8 in). I then raised the front forks an additional 25 mm (lowered the front of the bike forks stick out more above the triple), Hopped a couple of curbs and no issues bottoming, so it is good enough for me. I needed about 20 mm lower to match the links and the other 5 (along with 5 mm Tim had already done) were to speed the turn in a bit. Well, it is all good, I was impressed with the ride, the reach to the ground (I am way more stable with this top heavy beast) and the ride is unchanged with the exception of quicker steering. So, I think I still have some room to play but it is not much. If I hadn't done this I would never have liked low speeds on the Strom.

I highly recommend it, plus the rear wheel is higher off of the ground on the centerstand. Also the bike has a more normal lean on the side stand. All in all a good day of motorcycle stuff. Woo Hoo!
 
I lowered my 2012 Wee 3/4" about 3 years ago. It's now much more comfortable for my 5'9" (and gradually diminishing) frame. I was told it would affect the steering, but I never noticed.
 
To not do stoppies on the Super Duke would be to not even ride. I did some baby stoppies. Haven't gotten one on the Strom yet, I don't think my right hand is big enough. LOL.
 
Does your VStrom have a fork brace? I picked up a 2015 DL650 a couple of months ago and have seen a lot of comments (lurking on stromtroopers) about it helping with wind and handling.

Any opinions here whether it's worthwhile or nonsense?
 
You know, I guess I could take it off and see if I can tell the difference. Might be a good science project. I always wondered why everyone with a Strom has one. Nothing like empirical data to let me know why.
 
I'll be "that guy" ....

Maybe Graham Jarvis or Valentino Rossi could benefit from a fork brace, but only after a litany of other, more crucial suspension modifications.

Otherwise, the average Joe rider prolly won't gain anything other than a reduction in weight from your wallet.


YVMV
JMHO

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk
 
I don’t have one on my 07 650 and I can feel the forks flex if I hit a sharp edge bump at an angle. the first few times I felt it was unnerving. I stopped and checked the front end, now I just expect it and roll with it.
 
mitchntx said:
I'll be "that guy" ....

Maybe Graham Jarvis or Valentino Rossi could benefit from a fork brace, but only after a litany of other, more crucial suspension modifications.

Otherwise, the average Joe rider prolly won't gain anything other than a reduction in weight from your wallet.....
Click to expand...

Tell you what Mitch we can both try it out on mine. I bet you can notice if you stuff it in hard enough, not sure we could tell with the knobbies.
 
mitchntx said:
only after a litany of other, more crucial suspension modifications.
Click to expand...

What other more crucial enhancements could I do for fifty bucks?

I have a lot of respect for your opinion and don't claim to know better.

What struck me as notable from commentary on other forums is a common theme that it seems to help on this bike more than the average consumer (street) bike, and in everyday scenarios like wind gusts and tar snakes. I'm not one to intentionally push hard to see more value from said enhancements.
 
If it is such a great upgrade, why don't we see them on long legged motocross bikes?


For $50?

Change fork oil to a weight that is better suited to properly dampen to accommodate your weight and riding style.

Set ride height and sag to do the same thing.


Doug knows so much more than I do about bike suspension setup. I wear him out asking questions. I come from setting up a cars suspension and not much translates well.

But, bike farkles are just like car farkles ... there are a lot of snake oil salesman out there that are very convincing and providing little return.

Tons of folks buy them and install them. Quantity doesn't necessarily mean results

When I had Vatroms, I bought a fork brace. For riding like on slacker rides, didn't see the point.

For stuffing it into corners like Rossi or plowing through holes, rocks and logs like Jarvis, probably a good preventative measure. But neither use them, do they?





Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk
 
Long legged MX bikes have USD forks with large diameter legs that resist flexing. The 650 strom has small legs and is heavy thus the forks tend to flex. The 1000 came with larger diameter legs thus they start off more stable, the later ones improved with USD forks.
Look back at pics of early MX bikes and you will find some with fork braces.
 
Mitch, the bike is a good height for me, but setting sag more precisely and looking at dialing in fork oil weight are helpful suggestions. Thx

bwdmax, I suspected pro level bikes would have stronger components to begin with.. good to know that's the case.

I hope this isn't a thread hijack. Apologies if so, but I appreciate the thoughts. I need a friend like Doug near me, and the free time to take advantage of him/her too.
 
You know, suspension is great snake oil. I have played with valving, I have changed oil and springs, I think the most affect I have had on suspension is to perform maintenance. You'd be surprised how much changing fork oil every year helps out. I learned a lot by riding around problems then fixing them (usually after someone much wiser than I was suggested I try something and it helped). On the Vstrom, I lowered it sort of radically, but it doesn't bottom out against any hard parts and I can comfortably support it now. I also had a real slow turn in (in my opinion) and so I dropped the forks an additional 10 or so mm than that needed to accomplish the lowering. This made it a bit "tail high-ish" and steepens the steering resulting in a quicker turn in. Go to far you get a nervous bike, a little less you get piles of solidness in turns and not enough you have to wrestle her to turn in. Also having to soft of a rear makes if feel this way as well.

As to the fork brace I really don't think my Vstrom is stressed too much, but stiffening things never hurts (much). You can make things unride-able with too much stiffness. But I think we are not going to see that with the fork brace.

I share Mitch's opinion of the snake oil of forums and such. The most heinous internet discussion I ever had was with a bunch of people that insisted lowering the tooth count on front sprockets over stressed the chain and therefore was a dangerous modification. I was stunned at the silliness they displayed in the various technical arguments. Bear in mind we were discussing going from a 17 to a 16 tooth front. They got downright offended and called me a lot of bad names, ultimately I resigned as a moderator and left that site. I went back years later and there was still butt-hurt remaining.

So, when we buy farkles, we buy them because we need, love, enjoy, want or possibly even plan to improve our scooter. But I believe a lot of farkles are just farkles. For years I didn't modify my bikes I figured stock was good enough. Then I started riding at the track (when I was about 40) and discovered there were indeed limits that could be improved with the application of a little technology and of course cash. But, other than changing springs and setting sag most changes I made were indeed farkles. I have no problem with us farkling our bikes, I also enjoy the snake oil discussions from time to time. But if from time to time I just disagree I try to stay out of it. But I cannot remember ever seeing a Strom without a fork brace. So, based on that, it must be necessary. Really, honest, why else would we all have them?

I am also going to take mine off to see how I like it the other way. I am old, retired and always in search of science projects. Maybe I can get a stoppie out of the strom?

P.S. Just to toss a little oil on the fire, I put a 520 chain on the strom and went down to a 16 tooth front and a 43 tooth rear. Love it, watching the chain for wear in between the monster wheelies. I am thinking I am ok. YMMV.
 
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